Chapters

Highlights

NowruzNoWar will be live streaming from 16:00 GMT today http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nowruz-no-war Join us for talks, poetry & live music until 23:00 GMT

Join us at Nowruz No war on the 24th March in London to celebrate the Persian New Year (Nowruz) and send a message of peace and friendship to the people of Iran and the world over.
NOWRUZ NO WAR is an event to celebrate the Persian New Year & learn about Iranian culture and its links to our own.

Saturday 24th March, 3-11pm: The first evening of many which will promote Persian culture and Iranian people. Expect Film, Comedy, Live Music, Poetry, Debate & Photography
Address: 17-25 New Inn Yard London EC2A 3EA
Tickets: £5 in advance (recommended as places are limited) and £7 on the door
Buy Tickets here http://www.nowruznowar.org.uk/Purchase_Tickets.html

OVERVIEW Even a cursory glance of the media would seem to show a situation of an ongoing crisis with Iran and impending war. Young gamers are already playing in virtual invasions of Iran and Iranians are commonly shown as brutal savages. Meanwhile real covert operations are taking place, ordinary Iranians are suffering the consequences of ever more brutal sanctions and politicians talk not so much of whether violence should be used, but rather what kind of violence might be more “useful”: further sanctions, further assassinations, backing local terrorist groups such as MKO and Jundallah, bombing or even full scale invasion.
The assertions of a crisis are vague and often based upon hearsay amplified by political leaders and sensationalist journalism. Unless checked they may become a self-fulfilling prophecy as tensions heat up.
The words Now Ruz, or New Day, perhaps act as a call to reflection and a rethink of our ideas and prejudices (remember the origin of the word is “pre-judgement” - to judge before one knows).
A Glance at some of the day's activities:

Anthony will also be discussing the 13th Century poet Saadi's poem "Bani Adam", "Sons of Adam", a translation of which sits in the United Nations.

Photo Exhibition by Parisa Nasri

Poet and DJ Afshin Shemirani will be behind the decks, for a last hour of Persian traditional music and tech house.
Film screenings http://www.nowruznowar.org.uk/Film_Screenings.html
A SURPRISE Iranian Feature debut for the UK it has already won prizes in film festivals.

Academic talks

In the name of peace, in opposition to war, the panel joins three dots. Our dots are three of the defining faculties of humanity, language, mathematics and imagery. The panel will argue that human rights are not just something to be upheld, to the point of death for some, but now coming within the domain of science and logic. One key aspect of the scientific advances here will be demonstrated using apparatus, never before seen in public. But advances have been not just made, but lost. That is just part of why our panel is for peace, not war.

'THESE THREE SIMPLE TRUTHS': Dr KLAUS ABELS will give a brief glimpse of the amazingly simple system underlying the variation in neutral word order across all human languages. The system appears to be shared by all humans and, like our linguistic faculty more generally, partly characterizes us as humans; Professor JULIAN STALLABRASS will tell us how modern media allow the 'enemy' to speak back directly to those whose governments wage war; and Professor GEORGE GHEVERGHESE JOSEPH who will help us join the three dots.

Nowruz No War will show that from ancient times to now, Iran has been part of our intellectual and scientific development.

An attack on Iran would be an attack on our history – possibly non-recoverable.